This is such a make-believe article with no grip on reality whatsoever, written in an incredibly biased fashion, taken totally out of context, with specific focus if any. The reality distortion field, legacy of Steve Jobs, has been a really popular tool for American Media for decades already, and it shows! Only those Americans who got a chance to live abroad could shatter this deadly grip of distorted perspective on the globe!

Fact is that Turkey is no worse now than it was 10 years ago or 20 years ago. Fact is so called universal human rights, which are of course "a judaeo-christian construct forged in the crematoria of concentration camps", have never been accepted by those who rule in Turkey. If they did it would not be possible to detain so many without charge for so long.

Those who write here about extrajudicial executions need to be careful - the Turkish State does not have clean hands in this matter. The same people willfully ignore the hard reality that muslims kill more muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan than were ever killed by the US forces or their allies in their illegal wars/ actions in those countries. They also wilfully ignore the facts of history preferring the prejudice of propaganda.

There are others here who on the one side demand that the vanquished of the former Soviet Republic, the Six South East Provinces and the 82nd Province/ failed half island Statelet swallow defeat as a consequence of war and on the other whinge about imagined genocides in real wars of independence from the corrupt and collapsing Ottoman Empire. What this has to do with human rights in the Republic of Turkey is anyone's guess.

Those who write here that "Turkey" (in reality the Ottoman Empire) was tolerant and jews and christians were treated equally to muslims ignore the reality that they were only treated equally within their millet but the millets were not equal and in disputes the muslim was almost always right because Sharia requires that be the case; they also ignore the fact that jews and christains had to dress differently and could not aspire to high office without conversion to Islam. What this has to do with human rights in the Republic of Turkey is anyone's guess.

Human Rights issue have always been an allegation for Europe to not accept Turkey to the EU.Though it's an allegation,there are many lack of human rights in Turkey that we can't ignore.However,the West doesn't have a right to critisize Turkey's faults.We all know what happened in Europe and in the US about human rights in the past.There are 3million Turks live in Germany, but they don't have a right to speak their native language at schools.So who are you to blame Turkey for not allowing Kurdish language at schools?We can accept that there are a lot journalists imprisoned just for their writings anf thoughts and it's a shame for Turkey.On the other hand,there more priory issues about human rights in Turkey.For example,there had been a trial about a 13 year-old girl who had been raped by 26 men,and the court didn't found guilty the men as saying the girl allowed herself to sex with them.So,there are a lot of disgusting things happening in this country's law system that we should care about.Finally,nobody can blame Turkey for KCK and PKK arrests.Those are terrorist organizations and Turkish people have been suffering a lot for years by their attacks.

"There are 3million Turks live in Germany, but they don't have a right to speak their native language at schools"

Germany is not turkish territory. Turks are obliged to live by german rules and customs. If turks are not happy with that then they should leave and go back to turkey. In turkey they can speak as much turkish as they like.
Kurds on the other hand live in kurdish territories. Where else can they go? Don't you ever go comparing kurdish issue with turkish immigrants in germany. Like i said if turks aren't happy to be speaking german then they should go back to turkey. Very simple

First,they are not immigrants anymore,though you call them immigrants they are all cizitens of Germany.Second,Kurds are not only living in their territories.Actually there is no a Kurdish territory in Turkey.There are more Kurds live in İstanbul than so-called Kurdish territories as you mentioned.What I meant was not about German-Turkish issue,of course they will speak German and will learn German,however,people should put this their brains this is Turkey and the Turks rule this country so nobody can come up with learning another language as a human right issue in Turkey,just look at the mirror before blaming us.Meanwhile you asked "Where else can they go?",how about Iraq?That is not our problem.Also,many kurds in this country do not share your thoughts and do not care about language thing they already use in their homes and they don't complain like you said.It is all Europe's exaggerations and many of them hate PKK.

If they are German citizens then their native language is german and that's what they are studying at schools So there is no need for you to make statements like above.

Kurds DO live in the territories which have historically been kurdish. Long before turks arrived in the region. Those lands belong to the kurds. The lands that turks occupy on the other hand do not belong to the turks. Not a cm of those lands belong to you rightfully. Your right is in Central Asia maybe it is time for you to go back where you came from

by international law Turkey belongs to the people who live there. The initial inhabitants might or might not have spoken Turkish but that changes nothing. There are very few countries on the World which speak the initial language spoken there.

Not England, not France not Italy, not Japan not the USA and the other American states.

Also not the Kurds. Their language was the language of foreign conquerors. Like Turkish.

The Lands that my Ancestors occupied hundreds of years ago was 1/3 of the World and us Turks are proud of our history as my Ancestors was fair, honest and gave freedom to all who wanted to live their lives just the way as it was before.. When Jerusalem was under the Ottoman control, Jews and Christians were treated no different to Muslims.. Do not confuse yourself and compare the activities of the Turks with the politics of America, Israel and Europe.

What did Europe do in Africa and Asia? What happened to all the Countries resources?

What did the White Americans do to Indian Americans ?

What is currently going on in Palestine? What does Israel want from the Muslims ?

Why did Britain and America feel the need to enter Iraq and establish a so called country named 'kurdistan' in the north of the country? Why has Iraq been divided into three when it was one country? Why are they trying to do the same in Syria and Iran at the moment leaving Turkey to last. We all know the PKK is nothing without the support of the USA, Israel and Europe. The countries in question are all working together to have a big slice of the cake.

Turkey would have dealt with its own Kurdish issue long time ago if their wasn't an intervention from the outside world and we all know, the intervention is deliberate just like the individual comments.

Turkey is a powerful Nation and no matter how many countries come together to bring it down they will not succeed!!

Your ancestors were barbarians. Their actions caused the biggest movement of people in the history; the crusades. And the treatment by the ottomans of other ethnic groups that you are referringto was based on the old roman system. It wassn't an ottoman initiative, if i may call it so.

YOu ask 'what is currently going on in palestine?' and let me answer that with my own question: 'What is currently going on in kurdish regions?' Kurds are muslims. If you are so concerned about muslim people why have you been treating your own muslim population so badly and why is it so wrong to give kurdish people in turkey autonomy.why not "give freedom to kurdish population to live their lives in peace and qite" just as your 'fair and honest' anecestors would have done

In englsih language there si this saying that people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. Before you criticise anyone else just look at yourself first. You have had your own kurdish problem longer than israel had its. Put your own house in order first and if you are concerned about muslims, kurds are muslims too. Think about it a little bit

My Ancestors were making the World kneel in front of them and that is enough for the World to be against my Nation up until today..

To achieve this, my Ancestors had to be 'barbaric' as you call it because there was no other way to be in control of 1/3 of the World and bring law and order to peoples lives.. The Roman system was totally different my friend, we see religion as our guide/compass whereas the Romans saw religion as a threat to their power and crucified Hz. Isa (Jesus) who we believe was a Prophet.

The answer to your questions;

The Palestinians now regret the fact that they had stabbed the Ottomans in the back as they helped the English in weakening the Empire in the first place.. But unfortunately everything is too late and the English is watching them suffer just like the rest of the world... this is the first point I want to make..

There would be no conflict between Muslim countries if the western politics leaves them alone.. Yes Kurds are Muslims and there are a few branches in Islam just like there is in Christianity and this is enough for disagreements to arise within a population with differences. The west has just taken advantage of this.. Yes I am concerned about Muslim people, that is why my PM put his foot down against Israel and its politics in Davos!

I want to ask you a question.. How many times have you been to Turkey and spoken to citizens from all over the Country? Yes I agree, Kurdish people of Turkey have suffered in the past and I am totally against people suffering not matter what. However, I'am not going to start explaining who is right or wrong.. All I want to say is things in Turkey are a lot different to how it was in the past. The Kurds of Turkey now have more rights than they ever had before in comparison to the Kurds of Iraq, Syria and Iran put together. Letting them into the Parliament and giving them the Power to represent themselves is the biggest proof to you. Kurds in Turkey can now freely speak their native language, have their own media, can study and become a doctor, teacher, actor, soldier or even a Prime Minister if they wish. This shows you that things in Turkey have changed and will continue to change as we proceed in time (if the west do not interfere with in house issues). So the answer to your question; KURDISH PEOPLE IN TURKEY HAVE AUTONOMY!. However, if mean giving the PKK what they want, that is totally different to what the Kurdish people already have and achieved within the borders of Turkey. We have made a lot of progress in comparison to the past, however we still have to do a lot in order to put this Kurdish issue behind us and start focusing on making Turkey one of the strongest in terms of economical power in the World!

In Turkey there is a saying 'Turk'un Turk'ten baska dostu yoktur' I'm not going to translate it for you, if you are a smart individual, you will work out what it means, so do the math..

Yes we were Barbarians just like Europe, America and Israel is at the moment. If were not not so strong and powerful, we wouldn't have been in control for over 600 years..

I am sure you are right about things being better than they were but there is still the kurdish issue that needs a solution.
Maybe turkish administation should resolve it as soon as possible before defending other people's human rights or there is the danger that people will start calling them names. You know names like hypocrites. I've been told that's teh name that some people call americans.

The rule of thumb is that if you are going to cchampion complicated issues such as human rights then you must do the same for all and it's not the case 'yes' for some and 'no' for others

Kurdish issue? there is none at the moment.. that was in the past.. What else should be given to the Kurds of Turkey? independence? land, hence borders? to be able to print their own currency? what suggestions do you have? You are not looking at the wider picture and going on about the same thing since the start of the debate..

What can I say after this comment of yours which should be belong to a 5 year old kid.We have no right to live in here huh?Come and send us to Central Asia if you can.We watered every cm of these lands with our blood ,it's ours nobody could send us from here.Bytheway where did Germans come from to Germany?Think before comment.

@economist
Firstly, Activists in Hopa that you mentioned paralyzed a police officer by throwing lots of stones, he cant walk right now, these activists were throwing really big stones to politicians, is that what you call protest, stones = pepper spray

Secondly, students who are in jail, killed a fourteen year old girl by throwing molotov cocktail, dozens injured, burned lots of public busses and cars

and thirdly, journalist who are in prison now, got caught while planning or helping a military coup

Turkey is another rising Hegemon. As hegemony as you know it, they seldom practice for themselves on what they preach to other. We as ordinary people have had enough of the hypocritical practices in the name of human rights for Geo-political interests.

This mass arresting of Kurdish civilians will not be justified by calling KCK terrorists. Probably from Turks’ perspective all defenders of Kurdish basic rights are terrorists. It is the same old game a good Kurd either a dead one or the one who deny his Kurdishness.

The article is right: Turkey has been a cornerstone of the Arab Spring. What is left out, happening behind the scenes, is the sort of Spring that happens within the country that is looked up to. Perhaps Turkey is keeping these sort of actions under wraps for that very reason. A country surrounded by chaos should be expected to tighten down. To keep a handle on their own government (in this case, an unpopular one) they must be stringent. I am not condoning their actions, as I along with everyone else think that internment without justification is immoral. I'm just saying that this is probably why this immoral thing is happening, and that I understand where they are coming from, even if it is wrong. Bad things happen in every country, some of which I'm sure none of us hear about. It may not be right, but to a degree it may be necessary to prevent mob rule and anarchy.

Dersim incident was about assimilation of Kurds which was a typical move by a newly founded nation state in 20th century. If Kurds were to set up the state today, I am sure they would do what they can to strengthen their own national unity.

However, what CHP is doing not right today is, not supporting Kudish national state today. If CHP wants to win an election today, they can start by supporting an independent Kurdish state allied with Turkey, in territories outside Turkey. If CHP can do this, not only it can win elections but furthermore, it would win a century for Turkey.

Kurdistan can only exist if it can become allies with Turkey and Turkey can only become a democratis, powerfull state if it can make peace with Kurdish nationalism and Kurds.

What happened in Dersim (name changed to Tunceli by Turks) tell us what Kemalism is all about. It is a shameful burden on the shoulders of all Kemalists. The indiscriminate massacring of people is justified as an act of civilizing people. This is the CHP and its mentality. This mentality tells us why the CHP has never won and will never win an election in Turkey...

The American occupation regime in your country Iraq, which you have so often praised as necessary, cost an estimated 1,5 million Arab lives. Half a million by the embargo imposed to weaken Iraq for an invasion and one million killed by the occupying power.

The Dersim rebellion by contrast cost 13 000 lives. Not even 1 % of the Arab causalty rate.

Don't you think you are a hypocrite?

Even the inter Kurdsih fighting in Iraq between Barzani and Talabani cost far more lives than that!

Why articles about Turkey are not displayed in the section page "Middle East" ?? This country is surely more important (population, geopoliticaly, economically, alleged "role model" etc) than other very small stretches of land in the vicinity, which crystallize psychiatric manias and produce disproportionate volumes of discourses.

French readers should read "L'imposture turque"(= The turkish deception), by journalist Martine Gozlan (2011), a small concise, but incisive, book, which reveals how the so-called “turkish model” is a deception. It shows how the “moderate islamism” of the turkish government is a FICTION, maintained by medias not very inquisitive. The turkish “moderate islamism” is the RESULT of a fierce fight by secular republicans in Turkey – against the application of islamism (for US readers: in the rest of the world, republicans = supporters of REpresentative democracy) (short recall : the army jailed in 1998 for 10 months the current prime minister Erdogan, then islamist mayor of Istanbul, for having pronounced a feverish poem in which he compared minarets to bayonets, domes to helmets, and mosques to army barracks ) : Internet is under the control of turkish State since this summer 2011, sites being filtered “according to the good usage of Internet” for “the protection of families” ; 68 journalists swooped are still in jail allegedly for membership to a plot called "ergenekon", used as a a rag-bag/dump case for political prisoners ; journalist Ahmet Sik’s book "The imam’s army" has been forbidden and destroyed. This investigative book exposed the infiltration of the turkish police and justice system by the islamist religious sect Gülen. A decision of justice decided “those who possess a copy of this book and refuse to give it up to authorities will be charged for having helped the terrorist organisation Ergenekon" (!)) ; silencing of the opposition secular and republican press with disproportionate fines – among other regressions (plus, anecdotical but usual, fads about alcohol, forbidden to this day for under 24 years old, and social pressure for veils on women)

"My conscience cannot accept the ignorance and denial of the Great Catastrophe that the Ottoman Armenians were subjected to in 1915. I reject this injustice and - on my own behalf - I share the feelings and pain of my Armenian brothers - and I apologise to them."

An apology signed by hundreds of Turkish academics including Ahmet Insel, Baskin Oran and Cengiz Aktar.